!!The series as a whole:* CultClassic: The games have developed a very strong cult following in the years following their release.* TheyChangedItNowItSucks: The 2.5D spinoff brawler ''Obscure D'' was set up to become a full series reboot following acquisition by Focus Interactive. Eventually it was rebranded as its own original title, ''Final Exam'', following fan backlash.* VanillaProtagonist[=/=]TheScrappy: Stan. In the first game, he is almost an OptionalPartyMember, except for the fact that you need to go into the room where he's located in order to acquire a certain item. While Shannon and Ashley went to find the missing Kenny, Josh tagged along because he had a crush on Shannon, and Kenny joined the party after he was rescued, Stan seemed to join the group simply because he was there and had little better to do. He could've been written out entirely, and the plot wouldn't have changed at all. In the second game, he literally drops in two-thirds of the way into the game following [[spoiler: Mei's death]] with nothing more than a cameo appearance in the introduction, and then gets into a relationship with Shannon and becomes the main hero because of [[spoiler:Corey's suicide]].

!!The first game:* SpiritualAdaptation: The first game is this to ''Film/TheFaculty''. In both works, a [[BreakfastClub group of high school students from across various cliques and social circles]] battle monsters who used to be their classmates (only with less BodyHorror and more [[TheyLookJustLikeEveryoneElse paranoia]] in ''The Faculty''), and it turns out that [[spoiler:the school's administration is a major part of what's happening]].* TierInducedScrappy: The characters all had unique abilities, but due to AnyoneCanDie, aren't necessary to complete the game. Shannon could do both of hers within the safe zone, and there were only a handful of locks in the game, most of which didn't need to be done quickly, making Stan useless except for exploring rooms after they'd been cleared of monsters.

!!The second game:* {{Anvilicious}}: From the second game's opening scene, it's shown how the students at Fallcreek only care about two things. Then just in case the player didn't get it, it is then stated outright, through a report in the hospital level, that the infection which consumed everyone on campus was spread due to rampant sex and drug use. To really drive home the point that those are bad things, by the end of the game [[spoiler:all the characters that were partying at the beginning have been killed off, mostly in an arbitrary and brutal fashion]].** [[FridgeBrilliance Just what you'd expect]] [[TheScourgeOfGod from a playable teen horror flick.]]* ContestedSequel: While the AnyoneCanDie mentality and minor differences between the characters were enjoyed in the first game, the second game introduced some twists. The [[spoiler:scripted deaths, starting with [[ShootTheShaggyDog Jun]]]], really turned off a lot of the fans. * EnsembleDarkhorse: Corey and Mei ended up being the most popular new characters introduced in the second game. A Google image search for Mei alone brings up a good deal of fan art of her, and Corey himself has a few. It helps because [[spoiler: Mei suffers a completely unexpected and brutal death at the hands of Kenny, and poor Corey commits suicide after being unable to deal with her death by the end of the game]]. Their popularity resulted in a (sadly canceled) spinoff game called ''[=ObsCure=] Survivor'', which was supposed to be something of a light gun game and was to explore Corey and Mei's characters and relationship further. ''Game Informer'' even listed Corey and Mei #14 in their list of Video Games' Cutest Couples. * {{Foreshadowing}}[=/=]FridgeHorror: Hey, remember in the "nightmare" stage at the beginning of the game, where Mei and Corey encounter [[spoiler:Jun, Sven and Amy's mutilated corpses?]] Take a good look at the manner of wounds that seem to have done them in. [[spoiler:A quarter of Jun's face and entire right arm have been torn out, Sven's missing both his arms and has a gaping hole in the middle of him, and Amy's corpse is lying upon a large flower with her arms streched out and her entrails spilled out of her stomach.]] What does this have to do with anything? [[spoiler: Jun's wounds seem to imply mauling at the hands of an animal, Sven's implies chainsaw injuries, and something seems to have bursted out of Amy's stomach. Mauling at the hands of a monster, a chainsaw, and a monster infant is what kills the three respectedly!]]* GoddamnedBats: The Flyers. They're fast, they attack in groups, and they're almost impossible to hit with melee weapons, force you to waste precious ammo to defeat them.* MoralEventHorizon: [[spoiler:Former hero Kenny, following his mutation,]] takes a flying leap over the horizon following a FaceHeelTurn, starting with [[spoiler:crushing Mei's head under his heel while her boyfriend Corey watches, then abducting his girlfriend Amy to [[IHaveYouNowMyPretty repeatedly rape her]] offscreen]].* MoralGuardians: When the second game was released in Britain, one paper openly criticized it on their front cover due to [[spoiler: Corey's suicide]], despite the fact that it was treated extremely seriously. However, this was around the same time as the ''VideoGame/{{Manhunt 2}}'' controversy...* NightmareFuel: The mannequins that appear in the dream sequence of the prologue. And [[HellIsThatNoise that sound]] they make when you hit them.* StrangledByTheRedString: Shannon and Stan. Granted, there is a TimeSkip between the two games, but there is no mention of it previously, and their kiss just comes out of the blue.* WhatAnIdiot: You're barely fighting off the spores in your body, even with the help of medication, so why would you deliberately inhale a whole bunch of them, [[spoiler:Kenny?!]]----